How to move to Colombia (Residence Permits, Visa, Citizenship)
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Colombia is currently one of the most sought destinations in Latin America. The country has improved its overall quality of life severely in the past decades, and with crime rates going down and improvements in infrastructure, Colombia is attracting more and more foreign residents year after year.

00:00 How to Move to Colombia

01:38 Residence permit in Colombia

Now we are going to talk about residence permits in Colombia. As usual, we are going to talk about residence permits if you are coming as an independent person with your own means. But, in Colombia there are obviously the most common types of residence permits such as for employment and for family members of a Colombian national. Let’s check the options for independent persons then.

Residence Permit for Retirees

The first popular option to establish residence in Colombia is if you are a retiree. By showing you have an income 3 times higher than the minimum monthly wage in Colombia you will be eligible to apply for this residence permit.
At the time of this video recording, that is equivalent to roughly 750 USD per month, a pretty low amount, especially if compared to similar programs in Europe. As for Latin America, there are other countries offering similar residence permits for retirees.
This type of residence permit is issued for three years and is renewable.

Residence Permit for Passive Income Earners

If you are not a retiree but you earn passive income, you can also get a residence permit in Colombia without having to do any economic activity in the country.
The advantages and requirements for this type of residence permit are very similar to those of the residence permit for retirees. The only major difference is the financial requirement.
The financial requirement for passive income earners is to have a monthly income of 10 times the minimum salary in Colombia.

Residence Permit for Business

If you want to run a business in Colombia, may it be self-employed or with employees, it is also possible to acquire a residence permit.
You will need to invest the amount of 100 times the current minimum salary of Colombia into your business, which as of 2022 translates into roughly 25000 USD.
This is an excellent choice if you work remotely or you actually want to open a business in Colombia, like a cleaning business or a coffee shop or a car rental company, for example.

Residence Permit for Real Estate Owners

If you want to reside in Colombia and you are not a retiree and you also don’t want to run an active business it is also possible to live in the country by buying real estate.
In this type of investment, the minimum invested amount has to be 350 Colombian minimum salaries, or roughly 88k USD as of today.

03:55 Colombia Permanent Residence

Now we are going to talk about getting permanent residency in Colombia. This can be done basically in two ways. The first is the usual one, that works in almost every other country: stay a number of years and get the permanent residence permit. But Colombia is also one of the few countries in Latin America and in the world that, by making an investment, you can guarantee your permanent residence in the country straight away.

If you want to live in Colombia without being an investor, in normal circumstances it will take 5 year of residency for you to become eligible for permanent residency. There are however many exceptions to this rule. If your partner is a Colombian national or if you are a citizen of Mercosur, 2 years of residency in Colombia will suffice to become eligible for PR.

For the investment option, if you invest into real estate the amount equivalent to 650 Colombian minimum salaries, which as of 2022 is equivalent to roughly 165000 USD, you will be eligible to apply for permanent residence in Colombia.

04:58 Colombian citizenship

Finally, the last step of full integration in Colombian society is acquiring citizenship.
Like in most South American countries, it is relatively easy to acquire Colombian citizenship, especially when compared to become a citizen in most European or Asian countries

The Colombian passport is also pretty strong. It has visa free access to all countries in the European Union with the exception of Ireland, and to other important countries such as South Korea, Turkey and Singapore.
Moreover with a Colombian passport you can live and work in a number of South American countries without going through the usual bureaucracy. Some of these countries are Uruguay and Brazil.

05:48 Advantages and disadvantages of living in Colombia

Advantages of living in Colombia:

-Climate
-Cost of Living
-Spanish language
-Dual citizenship

Disadvantages

-Safety
-Transport infrastructure